Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 271

As Yankees' regular second baseman in 1953, Martin saw his average drop to .257, but set what would be career highs with 149 games played, 15 home runs and 75 runs batted in. He was also ejected for the first two occasions in his career, once for arguing balls and strikes, the other for fighting. With Martin's growing reputation as a fighter, opposing players often slid into second base hard, hoping to injure him. Stengel stated; "Billy's being hit with the hardest blocks this side of a professional football field." Nevertheless, he finished second in the league in fielding percentage among second basemen. The Yankees won their fifth consecutive pennant, and in the 1953 World Series, Martin dominated, collecting 12 hits, tying a series record, and with 23 total bases, breaking Babe Ruth's record of 19, as the Yankees beat the Dodgers in six games.

Martin's hit in the ninth inning of Game Six scored the winning run. He was elected the Series' Most Valuable Player. Stengel exulted; "Look at him. He doesn't look like a great player; but he is a helluva player. Try to find something he can't do. You can't."

There had been congressional investigations into whether athletes and others were given preferable treatment to avoid conscription and, in early 1954, Martin was drafted into the army, his renewed request for a hardship discharge denied. He